The present invention relates to a high speed transportation system and in particular to a system using a plurality of capsules for transporting people and vehicles using a ram drive vehicle to propel the capsules through a lattice-like tunnel between destinations.
Saturation of highways and the relative shortcomings of public transportation systems such as planes, railroads and buses call for new innovations in transportation in order to keep up with the constantly increasing number of travelers. Costs of adding to the interstate highway system and the costs for new railway and subway systems have become prohibitive.
Motor vehicle systems have a distinct advantage of permitting a driver and the contents of the vehicle to be selectively moved from location to location without any encumbrances such as time schedules, travel corridors and the like. However, the increasing number of motor vehicles has clogged the highway system causing numerous delays and traffic jams and wear and tear on the highways. Moreover, many motor vehicles are driven with only a single driver, thus, there is great inefficiency in the motor vehicle system which do not always counteract the convenience of a single vehicle, particularly when the question of fuel economy and other environmental questions are considered. There have been some initial efforts to overcome these disadvantages. For example, auto trains transport motor vehicles from one location to another thereby enabling a driver to have his own vehicle once the destination is reached without having to physically drive the vehicle across great distances to reach the destination.
Other high speed transportation systems are known in the prior patent art and whereas these systems have some advantages, none have been found to be efficient enough or practical enough to be used on a wide scale basis.